


Stories of Heroism

by TorterraGarden



Category: Mortal Kombat (Video Games)
Genre: Gen, other characters get mentions but not enough to justify tagging them
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-31
Updated: 2019-01-31
Packaged: 2019-10-19 12:13:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,214
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17601167
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TorterraGarden/pseuds/TorterraGarden
Summary: A reflection and exploration of Cassie's thoughts, growing up the daughter of Johnny Cage and Sonya Blade





	Stories of Heroism

**Author's Note:**

> With MK11 coming out soon I'm trying to get into writing for MK more, and it's a crime that I've never posted anything about Cassie considering she's in my username. This was kind of a quick practice fic to try and get in her head, I hope y'all enjoy!

Cassie was four years old the first time her parents told her the story of how they had met, and the events that had led them both to becoming Earthrealm heroes. At least, that was how old Cassie was when she could first remember being told the story, when she could first understand it and conceptualize it, and when she first became aware that her parents really were heroes, and their family friend Raiden really was a god.

Of course, the story they told her back then was a very sanitized version of the story. They told her about the Mortal Kombat tournament and how it was a fighting competition that would determine the fate of Earthrealm, but they didn’t tell her what exactly was at stake if they lost the tournament, and they didn’t tell her that many of the matches in it were supposed to end in death. They told her about the friends they had made there, and how bravely they had aided the fight for Earthrealm, but they didn’t tell her that except for Cassie’s parents and Raiden, all of them had met a violent end. They told her about saving Jacqui’s dad from the evil sorcerer Quan Chi who had him imprisoned, but they didn’t speak of the horrors that Jax had not only witnessed but taken part in, they didn’t speak of him having been brought back from the dead. They told Cassie how her mother was a strong and brave leader in the fight against Shinnok, and how her father had defeated the elder god by unlocking the powers bestowed upon him by his bloodline. But they didn’t tell Cassie the gritty details. They didn’t tell her how these experiences had changed and scarred everyone who had been a part of them. They didn’t tell her how much loss had accompanied their victory.

All Cassie knew as a young child was a tale of heroism, in which her parents had saved the day, and the rest of their friends had probably gone on to live happy lives in their own realms. The feisty but soft-hearted Princess Kitana and her clever and loyal body guard Jade; the honorable cryomancer Sub-Zero, who still lived somewhere in Earthrealm, training more warriors for benefit of their world; the kind Shaolin monks Liu Kang and Kung Lao, who had dedicated most of their lives to protecting Earthrealm; Stryker and Kabal, the cops who had joined the fight and hardly cared that they were in over their heads; the ninja Smoke who shifted loyalty from his corrupt clan to join Raiden’s side; the shaman Nightwolf who had stopped Quan Chi from reaping the souls of Earthrealm’s dead. In Cassie’s head, all of these people were still living, free from the constraints of Outworld and the Mortal Kombat tournament. She and Jacqui would play and pretend that they were kombatants saving Earthrealm the way their parents did, unaware of the dark reality that was hidden from them.

Cassie was ten years old when she heard a harrowing truth from Jacqui. She had come to Cassie’s place one day, visibly shaken, and Cassie had taken her upstairs to her room where they could talk privately.

“What’s going on?” Cassie asked, shutting the door behind them. She had never seen her friend so upset.

“My dad just told me something,” Jacqui said quietly. She sat down hard on Cassie’s bed, staring down at her trembling hands. “I always thought it was weird that he never talked about Shinnok’s invasion the way your parents did. The way everyone told that story was like… it was like he wasn’t even there.”

Cassie sat next to Jacqui and held her hand. “What did he tell you?”

“He said I was old enough to know now,” Jacqui said. “He said I was too young before, and he wanted to protect me from it. He died during Shao Kahn’s invasion, Cassie. He died, and Quan Chi enslaved him. He only got free because of your mom.”

In that moment, Cassie’s thoughts were a whirlwind of confusion and shock and sadness. And hurt. Why hadn’t their parents ever told them this? When they told the stories before, they never mentioned anything like this! But Cassie put aside her own feelings for a moment to comfort her friend. She reminded Jacqui that her father was okay now, he was alive and safe. His early retirement made sense now, at least nothing like this would happen to him again. He was okay. Jacqui calmed down after a few minutes, and they both complained about their parents keeping this secret from them. What else were they hiding?

When Jacqui had gone home, Cassie ran to find her mother. She needed to know if what Jacqui said was true. Not that Cassie didn’t believe Jacqui, but she needed to hear it directly from her mother. 

“Is it true, Mom?” Cassie asked, when she had recounted everything that Jacqui had told her. She would never forget how sad her mother’s eyes looked, how when she sighed she sounded like she carried the world on her shoulders. 

But her mother confirmed that what Jacqui had said was true. Her mother sat her down and explained that she and her father had hidden these truths from Cassie because they thought she was too young to hear them. They hadn’t wanted to scare her. It occurred to Cassie that she should have wondered why all of those old friends from the tournament never came to visit, why they didn't seem to exist outside of the stories.

Cassie was twelve years old by the time she knew everything. After the revelation about Jacqui’s father, other secrets had begun to come out slowly. Cassie and Jacqui came to learn that nearly all of their parents’ friend and allies were dead, and still enslaved by Quan Chi. Cassie came to realize that those nights when she had snuck out of her room only to find her parents awake, it was because they couldn’t sleep, haunted by bloody memories of tournaments and invasions, and of the loss of their friends.

She also began to understand, for the first time, what it meant to be the daughter of Sonya Blade and Johnny Cage. She began to understand what it meant for Jacqui to be the daughter of Jackson Briggs. They risked so much, and lost so much, for Earthrealm’s protection, and Cassie and Jacqui were proof of their survival, proof of their strength and their ability to move on from tragedy. Cassie and Jacqui knew that their parents were heroes, though Jacqui was not in the spotlight as much as Cassie was, but there was less triumph in their heritage now. More sadness and fear. Cassie started to resent the attention that she got from outsiders, and she resented her parents from hiding so much from her. 

Cassie was sixteen years old when the accusations that being the daughter of Sonya and Johnny had gone to her head began to come her way. She was too cocky, everyone said. In over her head. Thought she could get away with everything, because her parents were famous and would protect her. Cassie had a lot to live up to. Everyone expected great things from her. Everyone expected her to be one of the next generation of Earthrealm heroes, and there was no way to escape the shadow of her parents.

Her mother pushed her hard, and though Cassie tried to remind herself that it was because her mother loved her, it became harder and harder for her to remember that. Her mother just wanted her to be strong, she wanted Cassie to be tough enough for the dangers that could still threaten Earthrealm. 

“I am tough enough,” Cassie wanted to tell her, but she felt it would make no difference. Her mother wouldn’t believe her. Her mother would say she was arrogant and naïve, if Cassie believed she was tough enough already. So Cassie said nothing. She didn’t tell her mother that she missed her mom, she missed that gentle touch and soothing words that she would never get from General Blade. They never spoke of the icy distance that had grown between them. She didn’t speak about it to her father, either, although Cassie knew he felt it too. She only spoke about it with Jacqui. Cassie’s cockiness had become armor, and the weight of it could only be shed when she was with her friend.

Cassie was eighteen years old when she joined the Special Forces. Her mother reminded her over and over that she would receive no special treatment. She would be treated just like everyone else. Cassie understood this to mean that she would need to work at least twice as hard, be at least twice as good as her peers, before General Blade could deign to notice and award her achievements. She didn’t begrudge the general for this, Cassie knew that anything less would only bring more accusations of nepotism to them.

Jacqui enlisted at the same time as Cassie, against her father’s wishes. This brought tension between the general and her former commanding officer, nearly ruining their years-long friendship. But Jacqui had something to prove too. She designed her own weapons based on her father’s, and she told everyone it was to honor him. That was true, but Cassie knew it was also meant as a “fuck you” to everyone who made tasteless jokes about her father being a zombie, everyone who called him a coward for his retirement, everyone who wondered if he should even be trusted at all if he fought for Quan Chi for so long. Jacqui’s choice in weapons were a way of taking back control, and defying those who thought she should feel shame.

Meanwhile, everyone asked Cassie if she could do what her father could do. Having his and General Blade’s combat skills were not enough, apparently. Cassie had to prove that she could conjure green energy like her father could, that she could make herself invulnerable and shoot lasers out of her hands, or whatever it was that people thought she was supposed to be able to do. Cassie put on a bold face in front of her peers, but in privacy she all but begged her father and Raiden to show her how it was done. She carried the same genes as the great Johnny Cage, surely she should have inherited these powers too!

“You’re not ready yet,” they constantly told her. Ready for what? It was bullshit! And Cassie told them so. That only got her in trouble. She had to prove herself without the help of special powers she may or may not have. She had to show everyone that she didn’t need her father’s powers, she was as capable as he was – more capable than he was – without them. She taught herself to pretend like she didn’t care if the powers ever came to her. 

Cassie was twenty years old when she conjured that energy for the first time. In her fight against Shinnok, just like Johnny Cage did before her. They came just on time, unlocked by Cassie’s determination to protect her father and her friends. In the adrenaline and heat of the moment, Cassie didn’t have much time to react to her newfound powers. Her moment of surprise and excitement was cut short, as she was still in the middle of her fight with a fallen elder god. It was only later, when the dust had settled, that Cassie was allowed her moment of celebration.

Kung Jin had actually been there to witness her powers coming to her, and it felt good to receive praise from him. He seemed so genuinely impressed and happy for her, Cassie barely even felt like rubbing his face in it. Takeda congratulated her for her victory over Shinnok, and all Jacqui said to her was, “It’s about time.” Jacqui knew what it meant for Cassie to have these powers, and Cassie knew that Jacqui was as thrilled as she was. Nothing more needed to be said between them.

Her father's loving and honest words were a surprising and welcome departure from his usual humor, but General Blade’s praise was monumental to Cassie. It was short and to the point, as was the general’s manner of speaking, but Cassie could feel the warmth beneath the words. She could feel the effort that her mother was putting into it, because she wanted Cassie to know that she meant it. She wanted Cassie to know that she was trying to cross the distance between them, even if she could only take small steps. Cassie was willing to try to meet her in the middle.

When Cassie had a moment alone, she allowed herself to be overwhelmed by all that had happened. Her friends and family were alive, because Cassie had saved them. She had saved them because her father’s powers, the ones she had been unsure she would ever get, had claimed her when she needed them most. She and her team were being credited with saving the world – they had really saved the world! Suddenly, Cassie was more than just the daughter of Sonya and Johnny. She was a hero in her own story.


End file.
